One of the issues that filmmaker M.B. Padmakumar remembers from a number of interactions with Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) officers for the certification of his upcoming movie Token Number is the shortage of any official communication concerning the alleged points associated to the movie. Although his movie was cleared by the regional workplace of the CBFC, censor officers from the CBFC headquarters in Mumbai refused to certify the movie till he modified the name of both of the protagonists – Janaki and Abraham.
“All the communication regarding the name change happened informally. If the Chairperson had any objection, the CBFC should have put it down in writing. When I asked the officials, they said that there would be no such official communication. Later, I was informed that the CEO will call me, but this call was through WhatsApp to prevent call recording,” Mr. Padmakumar tells The Hindu. Mr. Padmakumar himself was a part of the CBFC regional committee till two months in the past.
The filmmaker went public together with his ordeal solely after the controversy broke out on Saturday over the CBFC demanding the makers of the movie JSK – Janaki Vs State of Kerala, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, to change the title of the movie. Both movies confronted a difficulty over the name ‘Janaki’. Mr. Padmakumar’s movie explores the unlikely friendship between 65-year outdated Janaki and 72-year outdated Abraham. “Janaki breaks out of the behaviour that the society expects from a senior citizen, who is not supposed to have any dream of her own. Abraham also finds himself in the same boat. The film explores what happens when they meet each other by chance,” he says.
However, the censor officers discovered it an issue that an individual named Janaki, the opposite name of Hindu goddess Sita, had something to do with somebody named Abraham. He was requested to change both of the names and was even given a listing of attainable names.
“I tried to reach out to them through various leaders, but after the initial promises, most of them turned hostile. After this, I sent an official email to the Union Minister of Broadcasting, which angered them further. I gave up as I was broken mentally and decided to change the name Janaki to Jayanthi, because the lip sync would match. However, the officials even objected to that name. At that point, I said that I won’t be able to give in. I was ready for the film not even getting released. Finally, they agreed to the name change and issued the certification on June 9,” says Mr. Padmakumar who debuted with the award profitable My Life Partner in 2014.
